Head supporting and sealing means for hair treating apparatus



- T. F. NELSON Oct. 28, 1969 HEAD SUPPORTING AND SEALING MEANS FOR HAIRTREATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14. 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 T. F. NELSON3,474,794

AIING APPARATUS HEAD SUPPORTING AND SEALING MEANS FOR HAIR TRE FiledNov. 14. 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 vAZ m p 0 Z 4 ,5 g M d m W m t m A 0 0wfl Q 0 7 /o w "r. F. NELSON 3,474,794

HEAD SUPPORTING AND SEALING MEANS FOR HAIR TREATING APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 14. 1966 Oct. 28, 1969 T. F. NELSON 3,474,794

HEAD SUPPORTING AND SEALING MEANS FOR HAIR TREATING APPARATUS Filed Nov.14. 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Avior/1g United States Patent 3,474,794 HEADSUPPORTING AND SEALING MEANS FOR HAIR TREATING APPARATUS Thomas F.Nelson, Stratford, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 594,237 Int. Cl.A45d 8/00 US. Cl. 132--9 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisdisclosure concerns a human head supporting and sealing means used inhair washing apparatus. The supporting and sealing means includes afirst portion extending around the back of a users neck and secondportions formed as continuations of the first portion extending at anangle with respect to the first portion to engage the head of the userbehind the ears. The first and second portions cooperate to support thehead and together with a third portion, which is pivotally mounted on acover member, also provide a complete head seal for retaining fluidwithin the hair washing apparatus.

The present invention relates to apparatus for treating the human headwith a treating fluid; and, more particularly, to improved means forsupporting the head and sealing the hair and scalp within a treatingchamber with the face of the user located exteriorly of the chamber.

Devices for applying a treating fluid such as water or water and shampoofor cleaning purposes to the hair and scalp of a human head have longbeen known in the prior art. Often these devices have included a chamberfor receiving the hair and scalp, means to seal the hair and scalpwithin the chamber and fluid distributing means for applying the fluidto the hair and scalp within the chamber. One of the principal problemswhich have been encountered in the design of a suitable device is inprovid ing an adequate seal so that the fluid does not leak from thechamber. If the apparatus is of a type wherein the head is received inthe treating chamber in a face up or supine position there must beprovided, in addition to adequate sealing means, means to adequatelysupport the head. In devices heretofore known, this supporting functionhas generally been accomplished by positioning a support interiorly ofthe chamber upon which the back of the head rests. While a supportwithin the chamber may provide adequate support, this interior supporttends to crush the hair against the back of the head and may perhapsinterfere with positive assurance that the treating fluid will reach allof the hair within the chamber in an effective manner.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide ahead support and sealing means for use in a hair treating apparatuswherein not only is the hair and scalp portion of the head effectivelysealed in a treating chamber, but the head is also supported and held inproper position by the sealing means without the necessity of using anyadditional head supporting structure interiorly of the treating chamber.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention,there is provided a head support and sealing means formed of flexible,resilient material and defining an opening leading into the treatingchamber of a hair treating apparatus. The supporting and sealing meansincludes a first portion which extends in supporting and sealingrelationship around the back of a users neck when a head is positionedin the chamber. Second portions formed as continuations of the firstportion extend at an angle with respect to the first portion toward thechamber and these second portions engage opposite sides 3,474,794Patented Oct. 28, 1969 of the head between the ears of the user and theback of the head. Therefore, the sealing line formed along the contactline between the first and second portions and the head of the user alsoforms an elongated support line which precludes inadvertent tilting ofthe head into the chamber once the head has been properly positioned. Athird sealing portion movable with respect to the first and secondportions cooperates with the first and second portions to complete theseal around the hair and scalp within the chamber when it is desired touse the device for its intended purpose.

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming the subject matter which I regard as myinvention, it is believed the invention will be better understood fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the position of a users headon portions of the head supporting and sealing means of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional side elevational view of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the apparatus; and

FIG. 4 is a broken away perspective view of a preferred supporting andsealing gasket used in the apparatus.

Now turning to the drawing, there is illustrated an apparatus includingan upper portion 10 defining a chamber 11 for receiving the hair andscalp of a user. A hollow supporting base 12 is integrally connected tothis upper portion through the medium of a hollow column 13. The upperportion includes outer side walls 14 and 15, bottom wall 16, top Wall 17and a rear wall 18. A frontwardly extending projection 19 is connectedto the front edges of the side and bottom walls along a seam 20 althoughthis projection could, if desired, be formed integral with the otherwalls defining the chamber. This projection is provided centrally with acut-away portion which provides the bottom half of an opening 21 intothe chamber. In order to provide a supporting and sealing means forengaging the head of the user, a flexible, resilient gasket 22 isattached around the edges of the opening such as by inserting theseedges into a longitudinal slit 23 in the gasket as is clear from FIGS. 1and 2. The gasket has a first generally arcuate portion 24 which isdimensioned appropriately to receive the back of the neck of the userwhen the users head is positioned therein in the manner illustrated atFIG. 1 with the face of the user facing generally upwardly. Secondportions 25 and 26 formed as continuations of the first portion extendat an angle with respect to the first portion toward the interior of thechamber, and ends 25a and 26a of the second portions extend generallyvertically adjacent the top of the users ears toward the forehead.

Because the material forming the first and second portions will beslightly compressed when the users head is inserted within the device,these portions form an elfective fluid seal extending in a line aroundthe back of the neck of the user generally toward the ear lobes and thenbeneath each ear to a point adjacent the top of the ear. It is alsoimportant to note that what might be referred to as three effectivepoints of support are used to support the users head and prevent it frominadvertent tilting from the proper position of FIG. 1 a greaterdistance rearwardly into the chamber. The three eflective support pointsare the central upper surface of the first portion 24 which engages theback of the neck, and surface areas on the second portions 25 and 26located immediately beneath the ears between the ears and the back ofthe head. These supporting points are in spaced vertical planes which,of course, precludes this undesirable tilting action just mentionedshould the user relax his neck muscles once the head has been properlypositioned in the device.

Reference may now be made to FIG. 4 in order to better understand thefunction of a preferred form of a supporting and sealing gasket 22 whichhas been used in an effective manner. It is clearly seen that thecentral part 24a of arcuate portion 24 is generally circular incrosssection. There are also parts 25b and 26b of portions 25 and 26which are generally circular in cross-section. The remaining length ofthe gasket is generally semi-circular in cross-section. An importantfeature to be noted with regard to this construction is the fact thatthe parts 24a, 25b and 26b are relatively firmer than the remainder ofthe gasket between these parts. The firmness is contributed due to thefact that the increased quantity of material at the circular portionpermits less compressibility than the relatively soft and more easilycompressible semi-circular portions. In use, and when a head ispositioned properly on gasket 22, the parts 24a, 25b and 26b will beonly slightly compressed so that while an effective seal isaccomplished, these relatively firm parts provide excellent support andassure proper positioning of the head. The proper positioning isimportant because, as will hereinafter he described, a second gasketwhich is movable with respect to gasket 22 acts in conjunction with thefirst gasket to complete the seal. Meanwhile, the relatively softportions of gasket 22 between the relatively firm portions are moreeasily compressed so as to be able to accommodate, in an effectivemanner, difierent neck contours. The gasket 22 may be made by firstforming, by extrusion or otherwise, the entire length of the gasket ofsuitable material in generally circular cross-section. Then, the partsof the gasket between the parts 24a, 25b and 2622 may be cut awaylongitudinally to provide the generally semicircular relatively soft ormore easily compressible areas.

In order to initially permit the user to easily position his head in thechamber, and then to complete the seal around the hair and scalp, acover member 27 is pivotally connected to the top wall 17 through themedium of a flexible plastic hinge plate 28. After the users head hasbeen properly positioned as illustrated at FIG. 1, the cover member ispivoted to the position of FIG. 2. The front end of the cover includesmeans defining an opening 29 which is complementary to the opening inthe frontwardly extending projection 19. This cover opening is linedwith a flexible, resilient material forming a third sealing portion orgasket 30' which, when the cover is closed, extends around the foreheadof the user toward the users temples. The ends 31 and 32 of this latterportion mate respectively with ends 25a and 26a of the second supportingand sealing portions 25 and 26 to complete the seal around the hair andscalp. As an alternate construction, the ends 31 and 32 could extendbehind and spaced from the ends 25a and 26a and, in the nature of ashingle, prevent fluid from escaping. This, for present purposes, wouldalso provide a fluid seal because the fluid never reaches such a levelin the chamber that it could escape between the ends 31 and 32 andrespective ends 25a and 26a. When the seal has been accomplished, theface and ears of the user are located externally of the chamber.

With the arrangement just described the head is effectively sealed andsupported on the device so that no additional supporting means for thehead located inside of the chamber is necessary. A suitable material forforming the gaskets 22 and 30 is closed cell polyurethane, but anysuitable flexible, resilient sealing material may be used.

Flexible sealing strips 33 located on the inner surface of theprojection cooperate with inturned flanges 34 carried by the cover tofurther assure that the chamber will be sealed from the exterior whenthe cover is closed.

A dome-shape inner liner 35 is secured interiorly of the device alongthe seam 20 to conceal fluid distribution conduits and to also lendrigidity to the device. This liner is not used, however, to provide anysupport for portions of the users head within the chamber. Acontinuation of the liner 35 is indicated by the numeral 36 in thecover.

The principal features of the present invention, that is the headsupporting and sealing means have already been described. While anysuitable fluid distribution system may be utilized to distribute a fluidto the hair and scalp positioned in the chamber, a preferred specificdistribution system will now be described along with the remainder ofthe apparatus.

As indicated above, a hollow supporting base 12 is integrally connectedto bottom wall 16 through the medium of a hollow column 1.3. Thissupporting base includes a top wall 37, a generally circular side wall38 and a bottom wall 39. The bottom wall has foot portions 40 extendingtherefrom to support the base from a level supporting surface. Anopening 41 through the bottom wall is sufficiently large to receive acontainer 42 of hair treating fluid. The container has an opening 43 inthe top wall thereof surrounded by a gasket 44.

A relatively rigid supporting ledge 45 is integrally connected to andextends between the side walls of the base. This supporting ledgeprovides means to secure a motor 46, pump 47 and other parts of a fluiddistribution system within the base. The motor is secured on the topsurface of the ledge and includes a shaft 49 which extends downwardlythrough the ledge and through a generally rectangular hollow post 50 tothe pump located at the bottom of the post. A preferred pump is of thecentrifugal type having an inlet 51 along the surface of a bottom plate52. The pump further includes a top plate 53 and a center plate 54. Theshaft 49 from the motor is connected through an opening 55 in the topplate to an impeller blade 56 located in the pump chamber in the centerplate. When the impeller is rotated, hair treating fluid is forcedcentrifugally from the inlet opening 51 to the pump outlet 57.

The pump outlet leads to a hollow duct 58 which extends interiorlythrough the column 13. A fluid distribution T- coupling 59 is connectedto the outlet of the duct at the top of the column 13. From the coupling53 a plurality of fluid conducting pipes and other couplings providefluid flow paths to a plurality of outlet nozzles 60-63 located withinthe chamber and spaced from the scalp of the user.

An opening 64 in the bottom of liner 35 leads into a conduit 65 disposedwithin the column 13. This conduit is external of the duct 58 leadingfrom the pump outlet 57 to the T-connection 59. As seen clearly at FIG.2 the exit of conduit 65 has a suitable filter 66 disposed therein, andfrom the filter the fluid returns to the container 42.

In operation, a fluid container 42 is removed from a storage positionand placed on a level supporting surface such as a table top. Then theremainder of the apparatus is transported as a unit to the vicinity ofthe container, and the supporting base 12 is placed over the containerin a manner whereby the side walls of the supporting base surround thecontainer, and the pump 47 extends through the opening 43 in the top ofthe container to a sump 67 forming a part of the containers bottom wall.Now the sealing gasket 44- along the top edge of the container openingbears against the supporting ledge 45. The cover 27 is pivoted to theposition of FIG. 1, and the user may then sit in a chair adjacent thefront of the device and place her head into the device in the mannerillustrated at FIG. 1. Now the cover may be closed to the position ofFIG. 2 so as to seal the hair and scalp within the chamber. It is to benoted that when the cover is closed from the position of FIG. 1 to theposition of FIG. 2 the free ends 31 and 32 of the top gasket wipe acrossthe face immediately above the ears and thereby carry any portions ofhair along the top of the ear rearwardly into the chamber.

When the motor 46 is turned on through the medium of any suitable switch68 associated with power cord 69, the pump begins pumping fluid from thecontainer 42 and through the fluid distribution path to the nozzles 60-63. Fluid emerging from the nozzles contacts the hair and scalp and thenthis fluid drops from the hair by gravity through opening 64, conduit 65and filter screen 66 back into the container.

While the device just described may be used with any suitable hairtreating fluid, it might be mentioned at this point that one fluid whichhas been found particularly effective for cleaning human hair is aliquid identified as 1,1,2 trichloro-1,2,2, trifiuoroethane. Thecomponent parts of the apparatus may be formed of any suitable materialso long as this material is not adversely affected by the treating fluidwhich is to be used.

The foregoing is a description of an illustrative embodiment of theinvention, and it is applicants intention in the appended claims tocover all forms which fall within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A human head support and sealing means for use in an apparatusincluding walls defining a chamber having an opening for receiving hairand scalp of a user and means for distributing a treating fluid to theportion of the users head within the chamber, said support and sealingmeans being formed of a flexible, resilient material defining saidopening and comprising:

(a) a first generally arcuate portion positioned on said apparatus toreceive the neck of the user with the face of the user facing generallyupwardly, said first portion extending around the back of the neck ofthe user;

(b) second portions extending at an angle with respect to said firstportion toward the interior of the chamber, said second portionsengaging opposite sides of the head between the ears and back of thehead when the users head is positioned in said chamber;

(0) a third fluid sealing portion extending over the forehead toward thetemples of the user, said third portion being movable with respect tosaid first and second portions;

(d) said first portion and second portions cooperating to essentiallysolely support the users head, and

6 said first, second and third portions cooperating to form a fluid sealextending around the head with the face of the user located exteriorlyof the chamber.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the ends of said secondportions extend generally vertically adjacent the top of the users earstoward the forehead of the user when the head is placed in the chamber.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said third portion iscarried by a top wall of said chamber, said top wall being pivotallymounted with respect to the other walls defining said chamber.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said third portion hasends which mate with the ends of said second portion in fluid sealingrelationship.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the means fordistributing a treating fluid includes nozzles disposed within saidchamber and spaced from the scalp of the user when the users head ispositioned in said chamber.

16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first portionincludes a central area which is relatively firmer than the remainingarea of said first portion, and said second portions each include anarea which is relatively firmer than the remaining areas of said secondportions; said relatively firm areas contributing good support to thehead of the user at three spaced points.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,931,965 10/1933 Ravlin 132-92,854,970 10/1958 Nolan 128-65 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary ExaminerGREGORY E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner

